Establishing thresholds for unusually large binge eating episodes

Objective: This study examined group differences in ratings of amounts of food at the threshold of what is considered “unusually large” to develop empirically derived definitions of binge eating criteria for bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Method: Groups included undergraduate students, c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The International journal of eating disorders 2012-03, Vol.45 (2), p.222-226
Main Authors: Arikian, Aimee, Peterson, Carol B., Swanson, Sonja A., Berg, Kelly C., Chartier, Lisa, Durkin, Nora, Crow, Scott J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Binge eating
binge eating disorder
Body Weight - physiology
Bulimia
Bulimia - diagnosis
Bulimia - physiopathology
bulimia nervosa
Demographics
eating disorder diagnosis
Eating disorders
Feeding and Eating Disorders - diagnosis
Feeding and Eating Disorders - physiopathology
Feeding Behavior - physiology
Female
Food
food amount
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Obesity
Regression analysis
Surveys and Questionnaires
Weight Gain - physiology
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Summary:Objective: This study examined group differences in ratings of amounts of food at the threshold of what is considered “unusually large” to develop empirically derived definitions of binge eating criteria for bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Method: Groups included undergraduate students, community members, and participants from an eating disorder (ED) longitudinal study. Data were collected via self‐report questionnaires. Results: Ordinal logistic regression indicated that males reported a higher threshold for amounts of food compared to females. Overweight participants from the student and ED samples, but not from the community sample, reported higher thresholds. The presence of binge eating and fear of weight gain were also associated with higher thresholds. Discussion: These findings provide evidence that gender, social context, BMI, and eating disorder status are important considerations in determining what is an unusually large amount of food. Future diagnostic guidelines should consider the importance of these factors when defining binge eating. © 2011 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2012)
ISSN:0276-3478
1098-108X
DOI:10.1002/eat.20930